A brief collection of profiles of some example Israelis....from settler to secular.
Israelis: Portrait of a people in tense times | World news | The Observer
Perhaps the most interesting comment was how secular the settlements can be :
"Barkan is a mainly secular settlement. "It's very important to say that," says Natalie, "because people think once you cross the Green Line everyone is a religious fanatic. People don't know that a third of the [Jewish] population across the Green Line is secular."
What this suggests is that probably a significant section of settlers are so for economic reasons, taking advantage of the space and cheaper prices to better their lot. While they must still bear the moral responsibility for using such "stolen" land, the real blame lies with the government policies which must basically subsidize the settlements . I.E. many settlers are obviously manipulated by economics to bolster the settlement ideals of smaller factions. This might suggest that, since economic choices might underlie a large part of the settlement movement, it is not as intractable as it might otherwise be if based solely on fanatical beliefs.
The other interesting point was the study suggesting only 80% of Israelis believe in god. In a region beset by the results of religious fanaticism on both sides, lack of belief is grounds for hope!
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